Olympia Dukakis And Christina Zorich To Receive Award At The Richmond International Film Festival

Christina Zorich and her late mother, the Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis, will receive the Mother/Daughter Women of Excellence Award for their documentary The New Abolitionists. Zorich will receive the awards on Sunday evening, September 12th at the festival's annual red carpet awards including the posthumous award on her mother's behalf. The New Abolitionists will screen on Saturday, September 11th, 2PM at the Bowtie Movieland Theater 15.

The Legacy Award honors an industry leader who has displayed an outstanding contribution to the arts. The recipient of this award is distinguished by the dedication to their craft and to the industry, and the legacy they have built through the span of their career and continue to build. "This year's award is particularly special as we recognize the outstanding contribution of family legacy. Through the lens of a Mother Daughter relationship, The New Abolitionists, and their other humanitarian endeavors, we are reminded of the powerful influence we can have when joining together with family, the industry, and community to use our collective voice to make positive change," says Festival Founder and Producer, Heather Waters.

The documentary tracks Zorich's journey as she follows committed abolitionists throughout Southeast Asia as they attempt to affect change and put an end to human sex trafficking by the Christian ministries and NGO's (non-government organizations) who save children and teens in the sex trade throughout Cambodia and Thailand. They educated her on the causes and conditions that led to the blossoming of this criminal industry, the government's complicity, and the structure they used to solve the problem: Rescue, Rehabilitation, Prosecution and Prevention.

The New Abolitionists was directed and produced by Zorich; Story Editor Landon Satterfield was Co-Editor with Zorich. Dukakis came on as a producer during post-production to help complete the film.

Festival tickets can be purchased at: https://riff.eventive.org/welcome.